The history of quilting goes back thousands of years, with evidence found in ancient Egypt and other regions. Quilting arrived in Europe through contact and trade with the Middle East, and particularly after the Crusades, including when it was learnt that the Turks wore several thick layers quilted together under their armour. In the cold and harsh climate of northern Europe, the technique therefore offered warmth alongside protection.
In medieval Europe, quilting became part of needlework traditions, and also became a medium for storytelling and depicting scenes from legends. An early example includes the Tristan quilt, a decorative piece in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Medieval quilted garments, such as the gambeson and arming doublet, were worn under or instead of chain mail.
Since items such as bed covers typically involve large surface areas, quilt making has been associated with social occasions where people sew collectively. For example, in North America early settlers from England and Holland established quilting as a popular craft.
Quilting became popular in Britain in the seventeenth century, used for quilted silk doublets and breeches worn by the wealthy and later for petticoats, jackets and waistcoats, professionally produced in major towns and cities including London, Exeter and Canterbury. Quilting also has a domestic history, with many women quilting items for home use. The craft’s popularity has fluctuated according to changes in society, and styles have developed according to resources available and the social status of the maker.
The invention of the sewing machine in the early 1800s greatly advanced household sewing, allowing more time for pursuits such as embroidery and quilting.
The late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries saw the heyday of the wholecloth quilt, a traditional skill passed on through the generations in Wales, the North Country and the Scottish Borders. In the North Country, quilt ‘stampers’ were professional markers who drew designs onto plain or pieced tops, whilst in Wales professional quilters would travel around making quilts to order. Each area developed their own particular style and popular motifs, with feathers and twisted ropes common in the North Country and leaves and spirals often found in Wales.
The twentieth century was a time of great fluctuation. The interruption of two world wars and a dramatic shift in society led to a scarcity of available materials and decline in traditional skills. Competition from commercially manufactured alternatives meant traditional quilts seemed time consuming and undesirable. However, some people could still see their value, and continued to practise, teach and research patchwork and quilting, leading to an eventual resurgence of interest in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1979 The Quilters’ Guild was formed with the intention of ensuring the traditional crafts of patchwork and quilting were passed on, and to represent a new wave of quilters to take the craft into the twenty-first century.
Although quilting can just use basic running stitch or backstitch, each stitch has to be made individually to ensure it catches all the layers within the quilt. Where the stitching is laid down in decorative patterns, it can be extremely fine work.
There are a wide range of local and regional design variations but they use similar techniques.
A list of local classes and workshops can be found here: http://quilling-guild.weebly.com/local-quilling-groups.html
There are many quilters and it is an enormously popular craft activity, there are over 30,000 members within the Quilter’s Guild and affiliated groups, and over 25,000 people annually visit the Festival of Quilts over a four day period.
